Historically fashion and art have been used as mediums of self exploration and social resistance. Multidisciplinary artist Navinder Nangla exemplifies this by juxtaposing contrarian aesthetics. His ironic, tongue-in-cheek humour is demystifying the hype around luxury labels and creating a new wave of exploration in the industry. The Manchester Metropolitan University graduate has consistently challenged the paradigms surrounding plagiarism and also takes pride in confronting big corporations.
His recent work includes dropping the bootleg ‘Praduh’ T-shirt that was created in response to a recent release by the Italian fashion house featuring a t-shirt that had strong resemblance to his work. Nangla provided a playful spin to the classic t-shirt by slashing out the Prada Milano oval logo and instead adding “it’s Praduh” in the typical graffiti inspired style.
This is not the first time the young creative has mocked the industry’s self important attitude as he is also the innovator behind the taglines ‘Fassion Is My Pashion’ and ‘Fashion Weak’ that are now sprayed across various walls in London. Nangla combines his love for disruptive art with fashion, making him very popular amongst a generation that yearns to create their own identity using clothing.
This punk spirit is emulated through all his creations that reject accepted aesthetics of society and instead capture chaotic inner experiences of an artist who seeks to dismantle rules. This same spirit has led him to massive success and collaborations with huge names in the fashion world, including Hypebeast, Levi’s and Converse. Inspired by the greatest icons in fashion and art like Vivienne Westwood, Alexander Mcqueen and Andy Warhol, one can easily spot the influences in his work today.
Additionally the artist has used his own experiences of growing up as a South Asian kid in Northamptonshire and utilised his neurodivergent tendencies to create art. Harnessing the creativity that is born out of dyslexia to express himself and make space for visual design that does not comply with restrictive barriers. You can explore his work here.
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